Rapid Growth Forecast for Chinese Tourist Numbers

THE HAGUE, 01/11/13 - By 2025, nearly 16 million foreign tourists are expected to visit the Netherlands, up 30 percent from last year’s 12.2 million foreign visitors, predicted the Netherlands Bureau for Tourism & Congresses (NBTC) Thursday in a report, In particular, the number of visitors from emerging economies like China and Russia will surge. In 2025, an estimated 800,000 plus Chinese will visit the country, four times as many as now. The number of Russian tourists will grow from 160,000 to 250,000, NBTC believes. But a bigger inflow of vacationers can also be expected also from closer to home, particularly older people with time and money for travel. Spreading out the visitors will be the most important challenge, according to the researchers. The increasing number of tourists means the sector will be good for 80,000 jobs by 2025 compared with 60,000 now, according to the study. Spending will climb from 7.3 billion euros to 12.4 billion.